Hans Zimmer has crafted one of the best live shows of 2017 [Review]

Hans Zimmer has made his mark in the world of film composition — almost to a peerless degree. Yet, who knew the German composer also boasted one of the more compelling live shows of any modern day musician?

Zimmer has rightfully built a world-class reputation on the back of award-winning scores for movies like Interstellar, Inception, The Dark Knight, and more recently, Dunkirk — not to mention classics like Gladiator and The Lion King. In 2017, however, Zimmer has left the studio to embark on a world tour to showcase his work .

While his Coachella appearance caused no shortage of fanfare, Zimmer’s international venue tour, titled Hans Zimmer Revealed, offers the best chance to witness his show-stopping production.

The show begins, and ends, with Hans sitting at a piano. In the time between, however, Zimmer is joined on stage by a studio orchestra, full choir, and live band. For three hours, Zimmer and crew collaborate on a tour de force of his timeless catalogue.

Photo by Sacha Lecca, via Rolling Stone.

Much like Christopher Nolan’s films (Zimmer’s most consistent collaborator), the show is the perfect balance of spectacle and substance. On the one hand, it’s a purely awe-inspiring sight, from the massive visualizer, to the over-the-top crescendos. On the other, it’s a vastly engaging, and honest experience, due in large part to the immaculate quality of the original compositions and the careful dexterity with which they’re performed.

It’s worth noting just how talented each individual member of the ensemble is. As the show goes on, this fact becomes increasingly clear, with lengthy solos and dazzling performances from seemingly every musician in the crew.

Outside of the talented cast, the real star of the show is Hans himself. Zimmer is the consummate entertainer: candid, charming, and a natural storyteller. He commands his audience with the same infectious enchantment with which his scores have enamored legions of moviegoers over the past few decades. From recounting tales of his fellow musicians, to poignant stories of working with the late Heath Ledger, Zimmer’s words are utterly engrossing and lend an unparalleled weight to the compositions that follow.

It’s hard to underscore just how awe-inspiring the entire production is. While familiar tropes, melodies and themes pervade the three-hour spectacle, much of the brilliance rests in the novel extensions, bridges, and improvisations — the kind of rugged, creative live edits which only exist in the live realm. Unlike their typical on-screen portrayals, the scores run on for up to 10-minutes at times, allowing one to take in their full grandeur.

Photo by Sacha Lecca, via Rolling Stone.

The show is perhaps best likened to a metaphor delivered by Hans himself. Zimmer recounts finding himself in Paris, standing in a space between the city’s classical architecture and more modern structures. Much like his own music, a brilliant intersection of classical tropes and modern sound design, Hans declares how the most interesting things in art are happening in the delicate space in between these two metaphorical pillars.

This is ultimately where Hans Zimmer’s live show succeeds best: in appeasing both fans of the old world and the new. More than just a mingling of these two worlds, however, Zimmer’s live show is unquestionably one of the most engaging musical spectacles of 2017.

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